I've got one and the other smaller one, the laser video guide. They're kind of useless. Pretty much all the same info here on the database. Some entries just give a description of the movie, same as what you'd find on wikipedia or imdb. There's very little info in most entries about the actual laser disc releases. I guess back in the 90's this was all there was, but now, they don't hold up as reference info.

Not sure I know what you mean by the "actual laser disc releases." Douglas Pratt goes into detail infoirmed by experience on everything from visual motifs and themes to fillmaking trivia to quotes from the director's commentaries, the technical aspects of the transfer and audio, and everything else. His entries usually run a couple of long paragraphs, sometimes more. You get ataste of it in his listings on eBay, where (as "uparaithic") he quotes from his own reviews when describing the LDs he is selling. ... Wish I knew what "uparaithic" means.

J

upaithric (juːˈpaɪθrɪk)

Definition:

adjective

without a roof

(I only know because I looked it up!)

I just got a copy of 1992 issue... simply.. wonderful!
Worth noting: I found it here in Buenos Aires!!!

Now I can let the holy bible behind..

What about an eventual new 2014 edition, with about 12,000 laserdisc reviews? There could be some interest in that?!?

Let's try again in 2020

Was reviewing the list of links on http://www.dvdlaser.com/links.htm and that was quite depressing.

Out of 45 sites linked, only ones left alive are:

https://dvd-fever.co.uk/
http://www.dvdmg.com/
http://www.dvdreview.com/
https://www.myreviewer.com/
https://www.thedigitalfix.com/
https://www.ecoustics.com/
https://www.filmscoremonthly.com/daily/index.cfm
http://film-reviews.net/
https://www.hometheaterforum.com/
http://www.thecinemalaser.com/
https://videolibrarian.com/

Julien

Digging up this old thread for anyone interested in Doug Pratt's LaserDisc Newsletter reviews.

The website may not have been maintained for some time, however I was surprised to learn that he still publishes the newsletter every month! I had no idea, and only discovered this information when ordering the full set of back issues "from September 1984 to last month". Expecting 'last month' to be some time in the early 2000s, I then found myself reading the January 2022 issue of The DVD-LaserDisc Newsletter (he still has LaserDisc in the title). Of course it's all DVD and Blu-ray reviews nowadays, but the design and layout is the same as when I used to buy printed issues in the mid '90s.

If anyone wants to order back issues from the LaserDisc era, you can e-mail DVDLaserdisc@gmail.com or message Doug on eBay. They're all available in PDF format.

They don't seem to care so much.

I contacted them in 2006 and 2020 to establish links to their contents from LDDb.

Most recent updates from their side were:

(2020) I have again forwarded your request and hopefully there will be more of a response this time.
(2021) Any progress?

I gave up, it's been 15+ years.

Julien

I don't think he ever had much of an online presence, other than a few issues that used to be available to download for free.


Not sure why anyone would need to forward your request. I always got the impression it was a one-man operation and he answered his own e-mails. I guess it's something he's just not interested in.

I remember he had all titles listed and I think you could search up all reviews, had them more of each title than the newsletter.

Don't know if I had posted that before? But I thin about 8-10 years ago the site was updated or the LD parts removed and may have been lost.
Shame but its also his writing and maybe waiting for a time to publish a book for the retro nostalgia collectors?

It's a possibility, and providing a few people like me continue to pay for back issues, he's unlikely to start giving content away for free.

That's correct. I just wanted to know which releases were covered to provide links to a place where you can buy the correct back issue.

But he/they never reacted to my multiple requests.

I guess they are already making too much money to care

Julien